Space

Unity’s Dec. 13 flight marked its fourth rocket-powered test and the first to achieve the goal of exo-atmospheric flight set by Richard Branson 14 years ago.

NASA seeks industry input on the potential for an electrified aircraft propulsion X-plane demonstrator.

Stuck steering fins prompt booster to abort ground landing attempt.

Spacewalking cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev labored outside the ISS's Russian segment Dec. 11 to survey the site of the small hole in the Soyuz MS-09 capsule’s habitation compartment that was detected in late August.

A week after NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Bennu, scientists see early signs of a carbon- and water-rich object.

The abort was the first unplanned shutdown during a terminal count of a Delta IV Heavy, which has flown 10 times since its debut in 2004.

U.S. Air Force Col. Robert Bongiovi discusses the Air Force’s vision for future launch services, the Delta IV and the National Security Space Launch program.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) overcame an unexpected satellite communications interruption early Dec. 8 to proceed with the berthing of SpaceX’s 16th NASA-contracted Dragon resupply capsule.

Vega accomplished last November 21, a flawless launch from Europe’s spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG), orbiting the MOHAMMED VI-B satellite for the Kingdom of Morocco.

SpaceX dispatched a recovery ship to try to pick up a wayward Falcon 9 booster, which successfully delivered a Dragon cargo ship into low Earth orbit on Dec. 5 before fumbling a planned landing at Cape Canaveral.

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is to be the launch customer of a new high speed connectivity system launched at the Aircraft Interiors show in Hamburg last night.

Terrain relative navigation is opening a wider window for Mars exploration.

Software providers and OEMs have a joint responsibility to ensure that small and medium-size suppliers gain access to the simulation and modeling tools.

CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall and Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Chairman of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA), signed an agreement to develop a joint hyperspectral imaging satellite to support efforts to tackle climate change.

Why Ellen Stofan is confident humans will follow robots to Mars in less than 20 years and how she plans to bring the 42-year-old institution back to the future.

A pair of briefcase-size satellites prove a “bring your own” communications relay option for deep-space missions.

In addition to landing successfully, NASA’s Mars Insight mission scored another triumph with the companion MarCO 6U cubesat duo.

Experimental cubesats relayed the probe’s entry, descent and touchdown data in near real time.

InSight is to become the first spacecraft to place a seismometer directly on the surface of another planet to detect quakes.

Thales Alenia Space has this week completed a design review for its Stratobus surveillance and communications airship program.

A raging debate over how much a new Space Force will cost taxpayers intensified with the release of a new estimate.

Captive carry tests of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne low-cost space launch system began on Nov. 18.

China is drawing on existing technology with a proposed new manned launch vehicle, Moon rocket and is tweaking the design to make its Long March 8 reusable. Keep listening as Aviation Week editors reveal details of the Chinese space program and commercial endeavors by Rocketlab and SpaceX.

A $3 billion upgrade is nearing completion, positioning Iridium ahead of a bevy of competitors vying for global mobile communications business

With Electron launcher and Falcon 9 ride-share, dozens of entrepreneurs poised to join community of satellite operators.